Commentary on the Gospel of
Simeon is prepared for a peaceful departure. He constantly listened to God’s voice and the Spirit of the Lord who rested on him made him ardent in the service of God. He spent his entire life in waiting for the consolation of the people of Israel. His life is a loud proclamation of the faithfulness of God who fulfills all his promises. His waiting reached a blessed end when Jesus entered temple with his parents. By an inner light he immediately recognized Jesus. His joy was boundless because he lived his whole life for this moment. Simeon was able to experience the fulfilment of God’s promises because his whole life was in resonance with God’s voice.
“Now I can die!” in this way here stands the serene figure of Simeon, in vivid contrast to the tortured Herod, slayer of the Innocents. Herod’s death became legendary for its awfulness. But Simeon can teach us how to approach death: how not to see it as an enemy, “the prince of terrors,” how not to define it as the destruction of life, but to welcome it as a culmination, a completion. If we have not lived fully, we will be terrified of death. If Simeon could approach death so peacefully, he must have lived a deep life: unlike Herod, he must have fought the war within, and come to peace with himself, with others and with God. “Now, Lord, you can let your servant go in peace.” Simeon’s canticle is a beautiful closing of the day: a lesson in how to end things, how to end life how to take one’s leave.
The story of Simeon teaches that hope will be realized someday if not immediately and God will fulfill every one of his promises. But the way does not always correspond our way. Simeon was waiting for the glorious Messiah of Israel. Going to the Temple in the midst of many couples who were taking their children, he sees the realization of his hope and the hope of the people: “My eyes have seen the salvation, which you have made ready in the sight of the nations, a light of revelation for the Gentiles and glory for your people Israel” in a weak defenseless child. Simeon shows us how to end each day, a year and our life itself in peace with God.
